Many scouts and media members have pegged the 2017 draft as one of the weaker classes in recent memory. Nolan Patrick, the draft's top prospect according to NHL Central Scouting, isn't buying it.

"I think the media's pumped it down more than it is," Patrick said, according to Greg Wyshynski of Yahoo Sports. "I think the scouts I talked to this week said it's an above average draft."

Patrick and Nico Hischier are the consensus top two picks, but it's unclear how the rest of the draft will shape up.

"I think the NHL was spoiled with two unbelievable players in the last two years. I don't think you're going to get a Connor McDavid for a while," said Patrick. "He's one of the top two players in the NHL and he's 19 years old. I don't think any of us think we're that, and none of us should be compared to a guy like that."

It's certainly unfair for anyone to compare Patrick or Hischier to a once-in-a-generation player like McDavid, who actually turned 20 back in January.

McDavid aside, the bar was set extremely high by Auston Matthews and Patrik Laine last season. It's unfair to expect 35-40 goals out of Patrick or Hischier in their rookie season, feats Matthews and Laine both accomplished in their first year.

Regardless of the comparisons, it looks as though the Devils and Flyers will walk away happy with the player they land.

"The top guys are going to be able to have an impact on their NHL clubs," Dan Marr, the NHL's director of Central Scouting, told Kevin Allen of USA TODAY. "But the list does get pretty shallow quick."

Prior to the McDavid-Jack Eichel draft in 2015, the top two picks weren't always a sure thing in recent years.

Patrick could very well use this "weak draft" talk as motivation once his NHL career begins.

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New York Rangers winger Jesper Fast underwent successful labral repair surgery on his left hip, the club announced Monday.

His expected recovery timeline is five months.

In 68 games this past season, Fast, 25, recorded six goals and 15 assists, adding an extra six points in 12 playoff contests.

His contract expired at the end of the season, and he's slated for restricted free agency. However, on a Rangers roster chock-full of prominent forwards, Fast is vulnerable for exposure to Vegas in the upcoming expansion draft.

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Peter Laviolette is wary of poking the bear.

Days after his club held both Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin without a shot - the first time that's ever happened in a playoff game - the Nashville Predators head coach wants to focus on the present and put that story to rest after the statistical rarity made headlines.

"There's being a lot made of it. If you go back and look, try to figure out the amount of plays that they figured into that created scoring chances, they're both excellent passers, they're both capable of scoring goals, obviously too," Laviolette told reporters at his press conference Monday.

"That being said, because you guys have beat the drum on it enough, they're probably going to shoot the puck from all over tonight."

The Predators, as a whole, have effectively limited Pittsburgh's high-flying offense through three games, but any team would be foolish to take Crosby and Malkin lightly following a sub-standard performance.

So far in the final, Malkin's recorded two points and Crosby has three, but considering they occupy the top two spots in the postseason scoring race, don't expect either player to remain cold very long.

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Injured Predators forward Ryan Johansen has been named the honorary mayor of Nashville for the day, as the city's actual mayor, Megan Barry, declared Monday to be "Preds Pride Day."

Johansen even delivered a brief introductory speech.

It remains to be seen what types of political changes Mayor Johansen will make during his lone day in office.

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You've heard it by now, the Pittsburgh Penguins have a darn good offense, while the Nashville Predators run the deepest defense in the NHL.

The Predators, despite facing a 2-1 deficit in the Stanley Cup Final, have carried play through three games at even strength, often smothering Pittsburgh's speed and transition through the neutral zone.

In this case, one would think Pittsburgh could gain some offensive traction through its power play with the likes of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Phil Kessel patrolling the club's first unit.

However, the Predators have remarkably stymied the Penguins on the man advantage as well, holding the league's third-most prolific regular-season power play (23.1 percent) to just one tally so far - a complete drop-off from Pittsburgh's production leading up to the final.

Overall, Pittsburgh's power play is running at 21.7 percent in the postseason, but has been held off the scoresheet since Malkin's series-opening goal in the first period of Game 1.

Power plays traditionally run hot and cold over prolonged periods of time, but what's most alarming from Pittsburgh's standpoint is a lack of chances. In the Penguins' 13 opportunities, they've only mustered four shots on goal, including a mere two on seven man-advantage opportunities in Game 2.

"They come with a lot of pressure," Penguins forward Conor Sheary told Yahoo's Greg Wyshynski following power-play practice Sunday. "They make you make quick decisions with the puck, and sometimes that can be difficult. Especially on the break-in. They pressure you right away and you can't make a play off the entry."

With high-danger scoring chances coming few and far between for Pittsburgh so far at even strength, the Penguins' bone-dry power play needs find its old form, and soon.

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Everyone knows Penguins forward Phil Kessel has one of the most lethal wrist shots in the entire game. With that in mind, assistant coach Rick Tocchet would like to see him utilize it more often throughout the rest of the Stanley Cup Final.

"A guy with that caliber of shot, very rarely he should be looking to pass," Tocchet told Dan Rosen of NHL.com. "He's an unselfish guy, but he's got to be selfish in these moments. If he gets those three chances again, I think he's got to come off the wall and really rip 'em."

The three chances Tocchet was referring to all came on the power play in Game 3. One shot got blocked, Kessel flubbed another, and he attempted a cross-crease pass to Sidney Crosby on the third, which was certainly the right play.

Nevertheless, a more aggressive mindset from Kessel could ignite a slumping Pittsburgh power play, which is just 1-for-13 in this series. It could also spark the forward, who has just two goals in his last 12 games.

And Tocchet isn't just looking to see more shots out of Kessel with the man advantage.

"If he's going down the wing and he's in around the dots, unless it's a two-on-one and he's got somebody wide open, he should be ripping it," Tocchet said. "I told Phil if you do that early in the game, it's amazing how the game comes to you. If you pass those shots up in the first couple of periods, it kind of closes your mind."

Kessel's evolution into more of a pass-first player hasn't happened overnight. It's been a trend ever since his days in Toronto (SPG = shots per game).

*2012-13 season was shortened to 48 games for NHL lockout.

Kessel's shot-per-game numbers have taken a pretty steady downturn since his first year in Toronto. In fact, this past season he took 1.45 less shots per game compared to his first year with the Leafs. That's a pretty staggering philosophical shift.

Kessel has become a better passer through the years, and he's arguably one of the most underrated playmakers in the game, but it still wouldn't hurt for him to get back to some of his old ways - like he did during last year's playoff run.

"I just think if he has that home-run attitude, that 'Let me swing the bat, I'm not looking to hit a single, I want to hit a home run' attitude, that's when he's really got it," Tocchet said. "So I just reminded him, 'Hey, shoot.'"

And as Wayne Gretzky once said: "You miss 100 percent of the shots you don't take."

It's hard to argue against The Great One.

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One of two groups in the running to renovate Seattle's KeyArena pulled out Sunday night.

Seattle Partners, a partnership comprised of arena giant AEG and Hudson Pacific Properties, announced it will no longer pursue rights to the renovation.

"We remain firm in the belief that our proposal best serves the people of Seattle, but, unfortunately, significant factors through the bidding process have eroded our confidence in the ultimate execution of this project, no matter which group is selected," the partners wrote in a letter in Seattle mayor Ed Murray.

The AEG/HPP group submitted a bid in April to privately finance the renovation for $521 million, according to The Associated Press.

Oak View Group, the apparent favorite in the process, put forth a $564-million plan and is expected to be selected by Murray to oversee the project this week, according to Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times.

The letter to the mayor cites a fear that "the city is driving toward an unrealistic financing structure," and expresses concern that the city didn't conduct "a sufficiently thorough, objective and transparent process to properly evaluate the respective strengths and weaknesses of the two proposals, and most significantly, to identify the proposal best positioned to deliver a project consistent with the community's interests."

Specifically, the AEG/HPP group criticized the city for withholding "critical financial portions" of the Oak View Group's proposal from the public while sharing theirs with their full support, saying that act raised "serious questions about the integrity of the decision-making process and the ability of the public to make fair and equitable comparison."

Oak View Group is led by former AEG president and CEO Tim Leiweke, who later held those same titles with Toronto-based Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment before forming OVG with MSG and Live Nation.

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Dino Ciccarelli is rooting for Jake Guentzel.

The former Minnesota North Stars winger, who set an NHL record when he scored 14 goals during the 1981 playoffs, has a reason to keep tabs on the Pittsburgh Penguins this postseason.

That's because Guentzel, a freshman forward, could soon eclipse the high mark Ciccarelli set 26 years ago. The Penguins winger scored his 13th of the playoffs Saturday against the Nashville Predators and is now just one shy of tying Ciccarelli.

"I hope he does break the record," Ciccarelli told Michael Russo of the Star Tribune. "He has great instincts. He has a knack for the net."

Guentzel, whose 13 goals leads NHL playoff scoring, is also one point away from tying the NHL-best for rookie playoff points, a record also held by Ciccarelli, with 21. Former Philadelphia Flyers forward Ville Leino evened the record in 2010.

No doubt Guentzel has given Ciccarelli reason to tune in.

"It's nice to see him having success and having fun," Ciccarelli added. "It reminds me a lot of me in 1981."

Guentzel will have the opportunity to tie, and possibly pass Ciccarelli's mark, when the puck drops Monday for Game 4.

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